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Wokingham 'Best Place To Live In Britain'

Wokingham in Berkshire is the best place to live in Britain, according to new research.

And, in fact, if you live anywhere in the south east then your quality of life is among the highest in the UK with 22 areas among the top 30 local authorities - including nine others that fill the first 10 spots.

Six are in the east of England with two in the east Midlands. There are none in the west or north.

The second annual Halifax Quality of Life Survey says residents of the Borough of Wokingham - which carries the name of its main town - are the fittest in the nation with 95 per cent in good or fairly good health.

Halifax chief group economist Martin Ellis said: "People living in Wokingham have the best quality of life in Great Britain.

"They tend to be healthy, live in larger houses and have relatively high earnings.

"Wokingham also has good school results and the weather is better than average.

"However, living in Wokingham comes at a price with house prices £45,000 above the average for the South East."

Other places in the district include Arborfield, Barkham, Charvil, Earley, Finchampstead, Hurst, Sonning, Remenham, Ruscombe, Shinfield, Twyford, Wargrave, Winnersh and Woodley. The district was granted borough status in 2007, following a petition to the Queen.

The index - which measures wealth, education, health and even traffic jams and sunshine - found life expectancy in Wokingham for newborns, at 80 years, is one of the highest in the country, while average earnings in Wokingham are in the top five per cent of all local authorities at £744 a week.

The majority of householders own their own homes (84 per cent), and houses are larger with an average 6.2 rooms. GCSE results are also better than normal and the area sees an hour and a half more sunshine a week (29.5 hours) than the British average.

Last year Wokingham was the third top ranked area for the quality of life while winners Elmbridge - which covers the towns of Weybridge, Walton on Thames, Cobham, Oxshot and Esher - has now dropped to sixth. The next highest rated local authorities in 2007 are South Buckinghamshire, Chiltern and Surrey Heath.

Mr Ellis said: "The top places are overwhelmingly in the south east, but this is where earnings are higher and employment is higher. People here also seem to enjoy better health and even the climate is better.

"Of course in all these surveys there is a degree of subjectivity, but we feel we have included all the important measures such as housing, education and health which go towards making your quality of life either good or bad."

Rutland in the East Midlands, in 13th place, has the best quality of life outside the south of England because houses are large, life expectancy is very high and GCSE results are some of the best in England.

The survey found house prices trade at a premium in 27 of 30 local authorities with the best quality of life. On average this amounts to £78,618, or 30 per cent.

In Wokingham, the average house price is £328,282, a premium of £45,372 (16 per cent) to the average house price in the South East.

The three local authorities in the top thirty that offer the best value for money for homebuyers by selling for less than the regional average house price are Fareham, with a discount of £46,582, Bracknell Forest (£26,093) and Aylesbury Vale (£3,627), all in the south east.

Mr Ellis said: "Fareham, Bracknell Forrest and Aylesbury Vale are three areas that have a high quality of life combined with lower than average house prices, therefore offering good value for money housing.

"The best places to live generally go hand in hand with expensive house prices, but our survey shows there are exceptions to the rule where you can combine a good quality of life with relatively cheap property."

South Buckinghamshire, the area with the second best quality of life, has an average house price of £576,075, the highest outside London, and the third most in the country behind Kensington and Chelsea (£762,117) and Westminster (£603,704).

The top ranked local authorities in northern England are both in Cheshire - Congleton (68th) and Macclesfield (87th).

Congleton has a high employment rate, a high owner occupation rate and a low level of carbon emissions.

Macclesfield has high earnings, a high owner occupation rate and larger than average houses.

The top Scottish local authorities are Aberdeenshire (96th) and East Dunbartonshire (105th). Aberdeenshire has a high employment rate and low traffic and crime levels. East Dunbartonshire has relatively high earnings and employment levels.

The top ranked London borough is Bromley (69th), whose residents have relatively high average earnings, good GCSE results and a high life expectancy.

Just four London boroughs are in the top quarter of local authorities for quality of life, with the others being Richmond upon Thames, Sutton and Harrow.

The top Welsh local authority is Vale of Glamorgan (92nd) whose residents tend to be owner occupiers, have larger than average houses, good GCSE results and small primary school class sizes. Just three others in Wales are in the top half in the survey - Monmouthshire, Flintshire and Powys.

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